Waiter, there's no fly in my soup

Explorers Club will dine on regurgitated coffee, Wormzels and spiders on a stick

March 17, 2007|By Peter Genovese, Newhouse News Service.

SOMERSET, N.J. — The King of Creepy Cuisine fishes a Rubbermaid container from his refrigerator. Inside are four plump Madagascar hissing roaches, which do indeed hiss when threatened. Not these, though; they're very much dead.

Gene Rurka, who has given new meaning to the term "exotic fare," looks admiringly at the roaches.

"They're very nice and juicy," he says.

Tastes like chicken?

"More like a salty brie," the Somerset resident replies.

The roaches are being saved for The Explorers Club annual dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria on Saturday in New York.

The black-tie event--you can also deck yourself out in what the invitation describes as "native dress"--is a gathering of accomplished adventurers, scientists and explorers. The master of ceremonies is Dan Rather.

Exotic fare has always been a hallmark of the annual dinner. The 1904 event, for example, featured roast polar bear and creamed cod roe.

This year The Explorers Club crowd is in for a treat.

"I've got maggots--about 30 pounds--on the way," Rurka said early this week. "We've got 2,000 earthworms coming in . . . . We're missing about 40 pounds of gator. They're probably stuck on a plane somewhere. I'm bidding on some sturgeon in the Pacific. I think I found some 7-foot-long king crab. I'm trying to get some mopani worms from Zimbabwe."

He depends on a network of suppliers and buyers, people with proven track records. The bugs, for one, must be alive and in good condition.

"I want them moving, walking and talking," Rurka said.

He must get his hands on enough maggots, tarantulas, buffalo, yak and other delicacies to feed 1,400 guests. A Waldorf-Astoria kitchen crew cooks the dinner, which is served buffet-style. Ticket prices start at $300; choice seats--"South Pole" and "North Pole" tables--go for $11,000 and $25,000, respectively.

Rurka spends $20,000 or more on food every year. Roasted ants, for one, don't come cheap. A 3-inch-diameter container of the crunchy critters cost $200, including shipping. The hissing roaches cost $12 each. Tarantulas are the most expensive single item at $175 a pop.

"This is not for the light of heart, stomach or wallet," he said.

Most people would blanch at the prospect of beaver for breakfast, or scorpions at snacktime, but Rurka points out that our ancestors depended on much of this food, and many peoples still eat insects, an excellent protein source.

"It's all very interesting," says Lynda Roy, a club member since 2004. "The tarantula on a little spit is what gets people's attention immediately."

Rurka is eager to show off his latest creation--Wormzels, several earthworms joined together and twisted in the shape of mini-pretzels. He is so proud of his invention that he has trademarked the name.

"Dip them in mustard and you're on your way," the King of Creepy Cuisine said cheerfully.

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On Saturday's menu

- Oven-roasted North American bruin

- Buffalo sliders on mini-brioche

- Yak Wellington with wild mushrooms

- Swedish kangaroo meatballs

- Elk stroganoff

- Scorpions on endive salad

- Coffee made from beans eaten and then vomited or defecated by weasels in Vietnam and civets in Sumatra